My latest article on Amazing Stories is a tribute to Suzette Haden Elgin, the author (Native Tongue among many others), linguist and founder of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, who died recently (27 January 2015) at the age of 78. I also review and discuss "The Science Fiction Poetry Handbook", which she published in 2004. Her works are not only of interest for Science Fiction or Poetry readers. She also wrote many non-fiction books on variations of her most famous work "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-defense". One day I hope to read and appreciate her "The Grandmother Principles", the skills of which she says are disappearing. She was a mentor that I wish I'd had. She withdrew from the (writing/online) world in 2009 when advancing Alzheimer's made writing impossible.
Speaking of mentors, my beloved singing teacher, Cornelius L. Reid, died 7 years ago on February 3, 2008. He would've been 105 on Feb. 7, 2015. I miss him and wish I had known him longer (earlier), because he had so much knowledge and expertise to offer and I only gleaned a small fraction of it from him. At least I did get to experience his work first hand and I have his books, so I'm still learning from him in a sense.
I also learned recently that another college professor passed away: Samuel Jones, my Diction for Singers prof. I disliked him intensely, but for some reason he like me, so I did not suffer too much at his hands (like others). He was extremely knowledgeable and demanded the best and I did learn a lot from him. Here's the obituary.
Showing posts with label Cornelius Reid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cornelius Reid. Show all posts
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Friday, May 08, 2009
Report: 15th Free the Voice seminar in Frankfurt
Near Easter each year, Dr Hochs Konservatorium and the German Musician's Association host and sponsor the singing technique seminar "Free the Voice". Cornelius Reid himself gave the masterclass for the first 10 years and handed the reigns over to Carol Baggott-Forte, when, at 92 years of age, he decided it was too much to travel to Europe. I first attended the seminar in 1996 and have been hooked on Funtional Voice Training ever since. I attended every year when Cornelius was still coming, traveled to New York City to have lessons with him and found myself teachers employing his theories here in Germany. The first year Carol took the masterclass over I was only in town for 1 day, so I listened and was impressed. She seems to channel Cornelius in mannerisms, but she has her own style. She is extremely knowledgeable and yet intuitive, combined with a kind of fearlessness she gets amazing results in a short period of time, just like Cornelius did.
It always seemed to be the same situation, that I was traveling when Carol was in Frankfurt and so I had one lesson with her until 2006. By that time I'd moved to London and was gladly informed that she was doing a seminar in Brighton, just a short train ride away. It was amazing. I had had a bad cold, basically losing my voice and 3 weeks later it hadn't really recovered. I was still having trouble with notes in the upper passaggio and above and I was traveling to the US the week after the seminar to sing concerts with Elysium. Ack! Carol worked magic on my voice, took me in a new direction, which has turned out to be the beginning of wonderful changes in my voice and technique and I felt like I'd never sung better! Since then I've attended nearly every class Carol has given in Europe traveling to Lyon and Paris, France and to Frankfurt and also organized for Carol to teach in Hannover in February.
This years seminar was a good experience. I was able to attend for an entire week, listening to lessons for upwards of 6 hours a day and having 3 lessons myself. Unfortunately, I had had a(nother) cold just after the St. John's Passion concert and was still hacking up pflegm from under my larynx just days before going to Frankfurt. I had a lesson on the first day of the seminar and the cords were still swollen. They decided they were done after about 15 minutes. Until then it was a very good lesson. :-) I waited until the end of the week to take the other 2 lessons and they were great.
I wanted to insert the recording of my last lesson that I made on my phone, but for some reason it won't upload. Sigh.
Listening to lessons is a very valuable experience as well and I always try to listen to as many as I can. It's interesting to hear the progression from one lesson to the next as well. Carol's focus is more and more on professional singers and teachers of singing, so the level of the singers attending is quite high. There's not a whole lot of relevance for my own teaching since I teach beginners, young singers and amateurs for the most part, but it's ear-training which is all-important.
And the great news is that it appears Carol is serious about moving to Europe for at least part of the year. Her husband is Italian and she really enjoys doing these seminars here so they are now taking steps to make it a reality. She doesn't know where they'll "settle", but anywhere in Europe would be really helpful and facilitate any classes she gives around Europe. w00t!!!
It always seemed to be the same situation, that I was traveling when Carol was in Frankfurt and so I had one lesson with her until 2006. By that time I'd moved to London and was gladly informed that she was doing a seminar in Brighton, just a short train ride away. It was amazing. I had had a bad cold, basically losing my voice and 3 weeks later it hadn't really recovered. I was still having trouble with notes in the upper passaggio and above and I was traveling to the US the week after the seminar to sing concerts with Elysium. Ack! Carol worked magic on my voice, took me in a new direction, which has turned out to be the beginning of wonderful changes in my voice and technique and I felt like I'd never sung better! Since then I've attended nearly every class Carol has given in Europe traveling to Lyon and Paris, France and to Frankfurt and also organized for Carol to teach in Hannover in February.
This years seminar was a good experience. I was able to attend for an entire week, listening to lessons for upwards of 6 hours a day and having 3 lessons myself. Unfortunately, I had had a(nother) cold just after the St. John's Passion concert and was still hacking up pflegm from under my larynx just days before going to Frankfurt. I had a lesson on the first day of the seminar and the cords were still swollen. They decided they were done after about 15 minutes. Until then it was a very good lesson. :-) I waited until the end of the week to take the other 2 lessons and they were great.
I wanted to insert the recording of my last lesson that I made on my phone, but for some reason it won't upload. Sigh.
Listening to lessons is a very valuable experience as well and I always try to listen to as many as I can. It's interesting to hear the progression from one lesson to the next as well. Carol's focus is more and more on professional singers and teachers of singing, so the level of the singers attending is quite high. There's not a whole lot of relevance for my own teaching since I teach beginners, young singers and amateurs for the most part, but it's ear-training which is all-important.
And the great news is that it appears Carol is serious about moving to Europe for at least part of the year. Her husband is Italian and she really enjoys doing these seminars here so they are now taking steps to make it a reality. She doesn't know where they'll "settle", but anywhere in Europe would be really helpful and facilitate any classes she gives around Europe. w00t!!!
Friday, January 30, 2009
La Voix Liberée - Masterclass in Paris
Last week I was in Paris. I really could have been anywhere for all I saw of Paris, but it was nonetheless the wonderful to be there.
I was there for 5 days of Masterclasses with Carol Baggott-Forte, a singing teacher from Canada. I've talked about her and her work in previous posts, here and here. She works with voices in the same manner as my beloved, late mentor Cornelius L. Reid (no not the baseball player!).
We convened in the Canadian Student House on the campus Cité Universitaire in south Paris. They had a nice big room with a grand piano. Unfortunately, it was colder than the dickens, because we had to keep the loud, rattling heater off during lessons. But I digress. There were several people I knew from other classes Carol has given in various European cities (Brighton, Lyon and Frankfurt), it's one big family. We are trying to bring more people into the family, but it is slow going. I was especially pleased that my friend Alexa from Toronto made the trip over. We had fun and formed a nice mutual admiration society together with Thomas from Hamburg.
I had 5 lessons in 5 days. Hoo boy! Are we getting into some tough stuff with my voice. It's a really good thing too, because it's starting to cause problems. I'm confident we are on the right path and that my voice will sort itself out. I will get a couple more lessons while Carol is here in Hannover, so we can continue the work. I would really like to go to Canada and have lessons for 2 weeks straight. Will have to consider that.
It was also incredibly worthwhile listening to Carol teach and I learned some new tricks for my own pupils. Unfortunately, most of the participants in Paris were advanced singers or singers familiar with the work and with a high degree of musical experience and musicality. A lot of it doesn't apply to my own students at the moment and I'd love to pick Carol's brain or hear her work with a beginner with a limited amount of talent. Now that would be interesting.
While I was in Paris I stayed with my good friend and Prosperity Girl Sue and her husband Xavier. It was so kind of them to let me crash at their place, eat their food and take off everyday for most of the day. Of course Xavier had to work and Sue had things to do during the day too, so it wasn't so tragic, but still. They were very tolerant. I had a great time with them. We watched the inauguration together and cried together! :-)
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I was there for 5 days of Masterclasses with Carol Baggott-Forte, a singing teacher from Canada. I've talked about her and her work in previous posts, here and here. She works with voices in the same manner as my beloved, late mentor Cornelius L. Reid (no not the baseball player!).
We convened in the Canadian Student House on the campus Cité Universitaire in south Paris. They had a nice big room with a grand piano. Unfortunately, it was colder than the dickens, because we had to keep the loud, rattling heater off during lessons. But I digress. There were several people I knew from other classes Carol has given in various European cities (Brighton, Lyon and Frankfurt), it's one big family. We are trying to bring more people into the family, but it is slow going. I was especially pleased that my friend Alexa from Toronto made the trip over. We had fun and formed a nice mutual admiration society together with Thomas from Hamburg.
I had 5 lessons in 5 days. Hoo boy! Are we getting into some tough stuff with my voice. It's a really good thing too, because it's starting to cause problems. I'm confident we are on the right path and that my voice will sort itself out. I will get a couple more lessons while Carol is here in Hannover, so we can continue the work. I would really like to go to Canada and have lessons for 2 weeks straight. Will have to consider that.
It was also incredibly worthwhile listening to Carol teach and I learned some new tricks for my own pupils. Unfortunately, most of the participants in Paris were advanced singers or singers familiar with the work and with a high degree of musical experience and musicality. A lot of it doesn't apply to my own students at the moment and I'd love to pick Carol's brain or hear her work with a beginner with a limited amount of talent. Now that would be interesting.
While I was in Paris I stayed with my good friend and Prosperity Girl Sue and her husband Xavier. It was so kind of them to let me crash at their place, eat their food and take off everyday for most of the day. Of course Xavier had to work and Sue had things to do during the day too, so it wasn't so tragic, but still. They were very tolerant. I had a great time with them. We watched the inauguration together and cried together! :-)
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
Belcanto - La voce libera (or the singing seminar I'm organizing)
It appears that I haven't blogged about the progress of the seminar with Carol Baggott-Forte. Or indeed anything at all! A gross oversight!
My teacher, Carol Baggott-Forte, who is one of the most advanced teachers following in Cornelius Reid's footsteps, is making a trip to Europe to teach classes for a few weeks. She normally resides near Niagara, Canada. When I heard that she was planning to teach in France again for 2 weeks, I quick spoke to my colleague and fellow Reid-ite, Tobias Tiedge and we decided we should tried to get Carol to come to Hanover for a seminar at the same time (in order to consolidate costs of flights, etc.). She said she was willing and we agreed she would come after her classes in France for a period of 3 days.
Tobias and I worked out the details, I created a poster and a brochure/registration form and we sent them out to all our contacts, put notices up on the 'net, hung the poster all over town and posted the notice on the German Functional Voice Forum on Yahoo. That was about a week before Christmas.
There have been some minor bumps in the road along the way, but at the moment things look very good indeed.
We have room for 10 active participants taking 2 or 3 lessons with Carol over the course of 3 days, and as of this writing we have filled the course. Our desire is to give preference to singers from Hanover, Berlin or Hamburg and/or to those who've never done this sort of work before. Unfortunately, we haven't had many random inquiries, but a couple. The rest who've applied are all individuals who have either worked with Carol or Cornelius previously.
Tobias and I are meeting today to work out final details and perhaps decide on the actual participants, considering we have one more applicant than there is capacity. Registration closes on Friday, so who knows who might still contact one of us.
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My teacher, Carol Baggott-Forte, who is one of the most advanced teachers following in Cornelius Reid's footsteps, is making a trip to Europe to teach classes for a few weeks. She normally resides near Niagara, Canada. When I heard that she was planning to teach in France again for 2 weeks, I quick spoke to my colleague and fellow Reid-ite, Tobias Tiedge and we decided we should tried to get Carol to come to Hanover for a seminar at the same time (in order to consolidate costs of flights, etc.). She said she was willing and we agreed she would come after her classes in France for a period of 3 days.
Tobias and I worked out the details, I created a poster and a brochure/registration form and we sent them out to all our contacts, put notices up on the 'net, hung the poster all over town and posted the notice on the German Functional Voice Forum on Yahoo. That was about a week before Christmas.
There have been some minor bumps in the road along the way, but at the moment things look very good indeed.
We have room for 10 active participants taking 2 or 3 lessons with Carol over the course of 3 days, and as of this writing we have filled the course. Our desire is to give preference to singers from Hanover, Berlin or Hamburg and/or to those who've never done this sort of work before. Unfortunately, we haven't had many random inquiries, but a couple. The rest who've applied are all individuals who have either worked with Carol or Cornelius previously.
Tobias and I are meeting today to work out final details and perhaps decide on the actual participants, considering we have one more applicant than there is capacity. Registration closes on Friday, so who knows who might still contact one of us.
----------------
Friday, April 11, 2008
14th Annual Free the Voice Seminar
I just got back from Frankfurt yesterday, where I attended the voice seminar offered by Carol Baggott-Forte. This is the same seminar that was once taught by my mentor, Cornelius Reid. The work is the same: Functional Voice Training. And let me tell you - it was FANTASTIC. Unfortunately, I only had 4 lessons myself (I thought I was going to have 6, but there you go), but they were so good. Carol is so amazing. I feel like I took another huge step towards vocal freedom. At the same time, I listened to her teach throughout most of the seminar 10am - 1pm, 2:30pm - 5:30. It's the most fascinating thing to listen to these people singing and hear what she does with them. Her explanations are always clear and concise and I learn soooo much. The progression of the singers is phenomenal, even in the course of one lesson, but especially at the end after they've had 4 lesssons. Now I just have to incorporate what I learned into my own teaching. My first course of action is going to be to be more adventurous with my pupils. I hope that I can inspire them to sing better, more reflexively and to trust their bodies and their ears!
Want to know more about Functional Voice Training? Go to Carol Baggott-Forte's website: www.liberatedvoice.com
Want to know more about Functional Voice Training? Go to Carol Baggott-Forte's website: www.liberatedvoice.com
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sad News
On Sunday 3 February 2008 my beloved teacher and mentor, Cornelius L. Reid, passed away just short of his 97th birthday.
Of course, one knows that it is inevitable, but in a way, he seemed immortal to me. Afterall, I met him when he 86 - already a ripe age! But in the heart of my heart I think I'd always hoped he would live on forever. I was never able to work with him as much as I wanted to. It was made difficult by the very fact that we lived on different continents. At the beginning though, he came to Frankfurt, where I was living, on a yearly basis, and I made that into an opportunity for intense study. I took several lessons from him myself and listened to his teaching all day, every day for 2 weeks. In addition, I had work in Philadelphia on a yearly basis, which allowed me to travel to NYC for lessons, which I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford.
Nevertheless, I learned more from this great man (and not just about the voice and music!) than I learned from any one person - save perhaps Robert Fountain at the UW-Madison. His ideas are so unique and yet so sound, I don't know how anyone can doubt the truth of what he re-discovered!
I consider myself blessed for having known him and hope, with all my soul, that I will prove a worthy "disciple" in carrying on in the spirit of his work.
Luckily, I began working with Carol Baggott-Forte, one of Cornelius' long-time students and a fearless teacher of singing herself. She is much younger than Cornelius and very fit and comes to Europe several times a year. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem likely that I'll ever be able to take advantage of proximity and take lessons from her in Canada, but one never knows.
I miss you Cornelius!
Of course, one knows that it is inevitable, but in a way, he seemed immortal to me. Afterall, I met him when he 86 - already a ripe age! But in the heart of my heart I think I'd always hoped he would live on forever. I was never able to work with him as much as I wanted to. It was made difficult by the very fact that we lived on different continents. At the beginning though, he came to Frankfurt, where I was living, on a yearly basis, and I made that into an opportunity for intense study. I took several lessons from him myself and listened to his teaching all day, every day for 2 weeks. In addition, I had work in Philadelphia on a yearly basis, which allowed me to travel to NYC for lessons, which I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford.
Nevertheless, I learned more from this great man (and not just about the voice and music!) than I learned from any one person - save perhaps Robert Fountain at the UW-Madison. His ideas are so unique and yet so sound, I don't know how anyone can doubt the truth of what he re-discovered!
I consider myself blessed for having known him and hope, with all my soul, that I will prove a worthy "disciple" in carrying on in the spirit of his work.
Luckily, I began working with Carol Baggott-Forte, one of Cornelius' long-time students and a fearless teacher of singing herself. She is much younger than Cornelius and very fit and comes to Europe several times a year. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem likely that I'll ever be able to take advantage of proximity and take lessons from her in Canada, but one never knows.
I miss you Cornelius!
Friday, January 19, 2007
On My Way!
This was a really good week for me! I saw Neil Mackie on Tuesday at the Royal College of Music. I was a little nervous, but not too bad, really! But none-the-less I don't think I really put my best foot forward. My mistake was wanting to see him sooner rather than later, and so I didn't really have much time to prepare. My voice has been a little cranky since I got home, so I was careful instead of just laying it on the line. Sigh. When will I learn? But I am happy I wasn't shaking - that helps! But Neil is a very vibrant, little Scotsman and we worked for a good hour after I sang him my first two pieces. It was fun, different than what I've gotten used to over the years, and certainly more aggressive than Paul (which is good!). He was pretty completmentary, saying that my voice is very fresh and has a beautiful, clear tone, which just needs a bit more depth. There are some things I felt like I had to translate into Cornelius terminology, but I think I can get past that. At any rate, I believe that he can really whip me into shape. He gave me several good tips and encouragement too. He said that getting an agent in London is very difficult. Agents generally show up at college concerts or other concerts, but don't hold auditions. He said I should just contact the directors of choral societies and ask if I could come and sing for them some time. He also said I should contact the BBC Singers and the Monteverdi Choir (John Elliot Gardiner, conductor) to find out when they hold auditions for vacancies. He said he thought I would have no problem getting a job in a school, with my experience teaching. I don't know if I really want to do that, but it's good to know that it's an option, especially since I have no certification.
He also told me about a concert by Andrew Lawrence King at Southwark Cathedral. Andrew was one of my teachers in Bremen and we had actually done the Play of Daniel, which is what he was doing here in London, while I was there! I decided it would be a very good idea to go to the concert and reintroduce myself to him afterwards. To my surprise there were some other people in the production that I knew - Susanne Ansorg on medieval Fiddle, Ian Harrison on Fiddle, shawm and tenor and Michael Metzler on percussion. I know them all from Germany, so it was nice to see them here. I hope that they will put in a good word for me, after all, Andrew only knows me as a student!
Susanne asked us if we would join them in the pub afterwards and so we followed some of the singers to a pub, had a lovely conversation with them only to discover that Susanne and the rest were at a different pub! So we went over there. I had a chance to chat with Andrew, catching up on what he's been up to over the past 10 years since I left Bremen (Omigod! has it been that long?!?).
So, the very next day, I wrote Andrew an email, and sent him the important bits of my CV. I also contacted the BBC Singers and the Monteverdi Choir about auditioning.
Today I have a cold. Ugh.
He also told me about a concert by Andrew Lawrence King at Southwark Cathedral. Andrew was one of my teachers in Bremen and we had actually done the Play of Daniel, which is what he was doing here in London, while I was there! I decided it would be a very good idea to go to the concert and reintroduce myself to him afterwards. To my surprise there were some other people in the production that I knew - Susanne Ansorg on medieval Fiddle, Ian Harrison on Fiddle, shawm and tenor and Michael Metzler on percussion. I know them all from Germany, so it was nice to see them here. I hope that they will put in a good word for me, after all, Andrew only knows me as a student!
Susanne asked us if we would join them in the pub afterwards and so we followed some of the singers to a pub, had a lovely conversation with them only to discover that Susanne and the rest were at a different pub! So we went over there. I had a chance to chat with Andrew, catching up on what he's been up to over the past 10 years since I left Bremen (Omigod! has it been that long?!?).
So, the very next day, I wrote Andrew an email, and sent him the important bits of my CV. I also contacted the BBC Singers and the Monteverdi Choir about auditioning.
Today I have a cold. Ugh.
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